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Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was not just an Indian attorney but a great politician who played a key role in India’s independence struggle. He held the positions of Minister of Information, Deputy Prime Minister, Home Minister, and Minister of State during India’s first three years of independence after 1947.
To recognise Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s efforts for a unified India, the Indian Government designated his October 2 birthday as “National Unity Day” in 2014. Since then, “National Unity Day” has been observed annually on October 31 (Sardar Patel’s birthday). Additionally, on October 31, 2018, the world’s tallest statue, the “Statue of Unity,” which stands at about 182 metres (597 ft), was dedicated to him.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is known as the Iron Man of India. He will always be recognised as one of India’s most powerful and charismatic liberation fighters. He was an integral part of the fight for independence for India. Sardar Patel was a major figure in the fight for independence in India. His role in winning independence for our country was crucial.
Early Years and Schooling
On October 31, 1875, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel entered the world as a Leuva Patel Patidar community member in the Gujarati village of Nadiad. Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel, better known as Sardar Patel, is his full name. Zaverbhai Patel, Sardar Patel’s father, was a soldier in the army of the Queen of Jhansi, while his mother, Ladbai, had a strong religious faith. Even as a kid, Patel always had a bold personality.
A terrible boil was once treated by a hot iron rod, which he used without hesitation. At 22, when most people have finished college, Sardar Patel finished matriculation, leading many to assume he would work in a less prestigious capacity than his peers.
After finishing high school, Sardar Patel studied law and eventually moved to England to practise law as a lawyer. His legal career resumed in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, after his return to India.
Patel was the maiden Indian municipal commissioner of Ahmedabad from 1917 to 1924 and served as the city’s president from 1924 to 1928
In 1918, Sardar Patel made his name for the first time by leading a movement supported by zamindars and farmers of Kairana (Gujarat) to protest the Bombay Government’s decision to reclaim the tax despite the poor harvest.
In 1928, Patel led the Zamindars of Bardoli in an effective agitation against increasing taxes.
Efforts Towards the Indian Independence Movement
Patel was crucial in bringing the Indian people together during the country’s independence movement. He spent a lot of time behind bars during this period. His desire to show patriotism and eliminate the British from Indian territory made that achievement his primary focus.
He became more involved in the Indian Independence movement after meeting M K Gandhi in October 1917. He joined the Indian National Congress to protest British injustices and launched his first movement, Satyagraha, in Gujarat.
Patel was convicted to three months in jail during the 1930 Salt Satyagraha. Patel presided over the Indian National Congress session in Karachi in March 1931.
Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was imprisoned in 1940 for participating in Gandhi’s disobedience and faced nine months in jail. During his time in prison, Patel dropped more than 20 pounds. Sardar Patel was captured and imprisoned in the Ahmednagar fort from 1942 until 1945 during the Quit India Movement.
In the 1937 elections, he headed the Congress Party and was a significant candidate for the office of Congress President. However, due to Gandhi’s insistence, Patel withdrew his candidacy, and Jawaharlal Nehru was elected Congress President.
Following this, the British Government asked Nehru to establish the Interim Government. If Sardar Patel had been chosen as President of the Congress, he might have become the country’s first Prime Minister.
Involvement in the Unification of the States
Despite his deteriorating health and advanced age, Sardar Patel never lost sight of the broader goal of establishing a United India. Sardar Patel was instrumental in bringing around 565 princely states into the Indian Union.
A few princely states opposed joining India, including Bhopal, Hyderabad, Travancore, Junagadh, and Kashmir.
Sardar Patel worked relentlessly to reach an agreement with the princely kingdoms, but he was not afraid to use Sama, Dama, Dand, and Bhed techniques when required.
He had used force to acquire the princely states of Junagadh, governed by a Nawab, and Hyderabad, controlled by a Nizam, both of whom refused to join the Union of India.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel united the princely states with British Indian territory, preventing India from fragmenting.
Economic Ideas of Sardar Patel
Self-sufficiency was a major aspect of Patel’s economic ideology. He aspired to see India rapidly industrialise. The objective was to lessen reliance on outside resources.
Patel aided in the establishment of the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, which proved to be a game changer for dairy products across the nation.
Sardar was underwhelmed by the platitudes of socialism and often emphasised the necessity for India to develop more wealth before arguing about what to do with it and how to distribute it.He envisioned the Government playing the role of a welfare state but eventually realised that other nations had taken on the duty at a later stage of development.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was adamantly opposed to nationalisation and regulations. The business motive was a terrific motivator for him, not a stigma.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's death
Sardar Patel died of a major heart attack on December 15, 1950, at Birla House in Bombay (modern-day Mumbai). Posthumously, he received India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna (1991). His 72nd death anniversary is on December 15, 2022.
